Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a [1:72]

History
(to be added)

The kit
I haven't finished a single WWI aircraft since my Sopwith Camel fighter back in the middle of 2009. I attempted a Spad C.XIII fighter somewhere at the end of that year, but failed to finish it; and last year I started to built de Havilland DH-2 pusher biplane, to no avail (so many struts! I was overwhelmed! ). Shortly before coming home for Christmas I spotted a collection of Revell's WWI planes in one of model shops in Poznan. I liked two of them: S.E.5a and Albatros D.III; but shortly before that I saw the Albatros in shop in Kalisz and I wanted to buy it there, so I picked up the former aircraft.

Compared to WW2 and post-war aircrafts of Revell's production, the quality of its WWI aircraft is rather low, though not as low as some Mastercraft's kits (seriously, they have some gems like Cobra assault helicopter, but many of their kits are unbuildable). There are some flushes especially at the landing gear area, but they are easy to remove. Most of the parts are fitting well. Fortunately for me, with my previous experiences on D.H. 2, the main struts are made as one part (each pair is connected by a rod). The struts at the hull are not really supporting the wing - they were glued after the wing was set on main struts, because I don't think I'd be able to align so many struts at once

Painting was rather simple - brown top and light sand-yellow at the bottom. I am particularly happy with how the "wooden" parts (propeller, struts and landing gear) look like. By mixing Pactra's Rot Braun and Orange paints I came up with slightly gloss wood-like cover, which I also covered with thinned Rot Braun paint. I didn't do much weathering, only drybrushed the wings and fuselage to highlight the ribs of the wings.

I can recommend this kit for all fans of WWI aviation, but be prepared for some longer "play" with hull struts and landing gear, which unfortunately is not very durable and has a tendency to fall off or collapse. Some of the areas also require some sealing, but since this was ment as a stress-reliever, I made it OOB without masking or sealing anything.

Model: Revell
Paints: Pactra
Scale: 1/72